Since George Luger developed the P-08 9 mm Luger for the German Army in 1902, the nine millimeter (9 mm) cartridge has become one of the world's most popular and widely used firearm cartridges for pistols and submachine guns. In fact, in 1985, the United States Military adopted the M9 Baretta 9 mm pistol, which uses the 9 mm cartridge (M882), as its official sidearm. Referring to FIG. 1, as like most cartridges, the 9 mm cartridge 100 is typically comprised of a bullet 102 that is sealingly and snugly associated with a casing 104, wherein the casing 104 contains an explosive charge, such as gun powder 106 and a primer or cap 108 which is a small metal cup containing a detonating mixture 110 used to ignite the explosive power 106.
Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, a typical 9 mm firearm 112 is shown and includes a barrel 114 defining a muzzle opening 116 communicated with a chamber 118 via a barrel cavity 120. The firearm 112 also includes a magazine 122 for holding a plurality of cartridges 100 and a hammer 124 associated with a firing pin 128 which is further associated with the chamber 118. The hammer 124 is typically associated with a compression device 126 which when triggered causes the hammer 124 to interact with the firing pin 128 such that the firing pin 128 strikes the cap 108 of the cartridge 100 when the cartridge 100 is disposed within the chamber 118. As such, when the cartridge 100 is disposed within the chamber 118 of the firearm 112 and the compression device 126 is triggered, the firing pin 128 strikes the cap 108 of the cartridge 100 causing the cap 108 to detonate. This ignites the gun powder 106 within the casing 104 resulting in a rapid buildup of gas pressure between the bullet 102 and the casing 104. This pressure build up results in the bullet 102 being propelled at high velocity away from the casing 104, down the barrel 114 of the firearm 112 and out of the muzzle opening 116.
Although the popularity of the 9 mm firearm 112 and thus, the 9 mm cartridge 100, is due in large part to its reliability, the 9 mm firearm 112 has several disadvantages over larger caliber weapons. One such disadvantage involves the lethality of the 9 mm bullet 102 as compared with that of the 0.45 caliber bullet. Lethality, which is a reflection of the ability of a bullet to stop, or kill, an assailant, may be determined by the weight or mass of the bullet and its velocity at the point of impact. For example, a typical 9 mm cartridge 100 includes a bullet 102 weighing approximately 115-124 grains and holds enough explosive powder to propel the bullet 102 at a velocity of approximately 1150-1250 feet per second (fps) when fired. Unfortunately however, given this mass and velocity, the 9 mm bullet 102 does not achieve the desired level of lethality because the 9 mm bullet 102 does not have enough kinetic energy to impart against the human body. On the other hand, although the velocity of the 0.45 caliber bullet is slower than the 9 mm bullet 102, the 0.45 caliber bullet includes a much larger mass than the 9 mm bullet 102 and thus achieves a greater amount of kinetic energy than the 9 mm bullet 102. As such, when the 0.45 caliber bullet impacts a target, such as a human body, this greater amount of kinetic energy is transferred from the bullet to the soft tissue of the body allowing the 0.45 caliber bullet to achieve a higher lethality than the 9 mm bullet 102.
Unfortunately however, because of its relatively slow velocity, the 0.45 caliber bullet (and for that matter the 9 mm bullet 102) has a limited range and accuracy beyond thirty (30) yards. As such, this lack of accuracy typically causes a shooter to either expend numerous rounds to stop an adversary or to wait until the adversary is dangerously close before firing. This is undesirable because the shooter may either expend all of his/her ammunition or the shooter may be injured by letting the adversary to get dangerously close. Another disadvantage with the 9 mm bullet 102 and the 0.45 caliber bullet involves the currently achievable kinetic energy levels of these bullets. This is because at the currently achievable energy levels, the 9 mm bullet 102 and the 0.45 caliber bullet do not have the ability to penetrate the soft body armor currently used by our adversaries. Thus, the body armor tends to increase the likelihood that an adversary will survive a military engagement with allied armies. This is an undesirable situation because it may provide the adversary with additional opportunities to cause damage and harm to allied armies and/or citizens.